After more than two years he was unceremoniously kicked out as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Friday, opened up for the first time and declared that his removal by President Muhammadu Buhari was based on a false allegation.
After his removal, Onnoghen was later convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on a six-count corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.
Speaking at a book launch ceremony to which he was accompanied by his wife, Onnoghen explained that his removal was due to a false allegation that he held a secret meeting with former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, prior to the 2019 general elections.
Atiku was the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and was perceived as a key obstacle to President Buhari’s re-election bid in the 2019 presidential election.
On January 25, 2019, with less than a month to the presidential election, President Buhari suddenly announced the suspension of Onnoghen from office as the CJN. He subsequently swore-in the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to take over the leadership of the judiciary.
“Prior to my suspension, I was confronted with no allegation. There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai. As I am talking here today, I have never met Atiku one on one in my life. As if that was not enough, I was also accused of setting free, high-profile criminals, whereas I ceased to be a High Court Judge as far back as 1978.
“In the Supreme Court, I did not sit alone. we sit in a panel. In all these rumours and outright accusations, I was not given an opportunity to defend myself,” Onnoghen said.
“Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who had sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“To say the least, the period of my ordeal was the darkest era in the history of the Nigerian judiciary
“As I have severally, Judicial officers must be courageous. And I want to beg all serving judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hand of the executive arm of the government.
“Emerging Nigerian Judges should not go the direction of injustice because, without courageous judges and justice, Nigeria is doomed.
“Here, let me sound this note of warning that the appointment of judicial officers must never be allowed to be politicized, otherwise, democracy and democratic governance will be dead.
“During my tenure, the problem of Nigeria was not the Nigerian judiciary, but those who had no regard for the rule of law. We must therefore be committed to the rule of law and dispense justice without fear or favour. Truth stands, crush it, it will stand because it is truth.”